Information pollution on the vaccines endangers

Cyprus International University (CIU) Faculty of Pharmacy Faculty Member Assist. Prof. Dr. Ender Volkan Çınar, pointed out that in relation to the COVID-19 vaccines, there is a vast amount of misleading information and at times a frightening level of information pollution and went on to say, "Such misinformation is unfortunately capable of endangering the public health."

Noting that the vaccine produced by the Chinese company Sinovac contains an attenuated virus, Çınar stated that this vaccine production method in question is available in many vaccines used within the market.

Assist. Prof. Dr. Çınar underlined that the main source of information pollution currently observed is in relation to the mRNA-based vaccines produced by the companies Pfizer / BioNtech and Moderna, and continued as follows: “Since the mRNA molecule is a very sensitive molecule, it must be kept in a cold environment. This molecule enters our cells and enables the encoding of the viral protein, in order for the immune system to recognize these virus proteins. mRNA does not enter the cell nucleus and cannot interact with a person's own DNA. In other words, approaches stating that these vaccines can change our genes, do not reflect the scientific truth".

With the effectiveness of these vaccines being approximately 95%, Çınar noted that the protection against the COVID-19 disease is very high.

Providing the information that in order for protection to be achieved, the two doses of vaccine should be given at intervals of between a few weeks, Assist. Prof. Dr. Çınar elaborated, "We know that the vaccine will prevent the disease, but among the issues we do not know about yet is whether the vaccinees will spread this virus to others if they do become infected".

Stating that compliance with the wearing of masks and social distancing rules when meeting people who have not been vaccinated is still preferred in those people who have been vaccinated, Çınar noted that the second issue unknown is the length of the protection of the vaccine. Çınar said, “This situation can be for a few months, a year or a lifetime. We will see this with the studies applied. I hope all our people will take care in being vaccinated”.